


Above the Surface

by Pey119



Series: STS [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Complete, Cute Nico, Dead Annabeth Chase, Dead Nico di Angelo, Dead Percy Jackson, F/M, Ghost Nico di Angelo, Ghost annabeth chase, Ghost percy jackson, Jason and piper have kids, Married Couple, Nico Feels, Past Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Percabeth have kids, Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-15
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2020-05-12 14:39:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 8,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19231150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pey119/pseuds/Pey119
Summary: Sequel to Scratching the Surface. Nico has moved on, their family is doing well...but why would Nico be trying to warn them?





	1. Chapter 1

The sun had never shone so brightly, the snow had never looked so crystallized. On a bright winter morning, the TV's screen flashed across the room, flashed across the hopeful faces that looked at it in hope. Names scrolled on the bottom, the current temperature flashed on the top.

Three girls, two teenagers, one child. Wide eyes and a spark of hope. Robes tied around skinny frames, a pair of glasses hanging off a nose. No parents in sight.

It was 7:30 in the morning when a cheer erupted from the small girl, her dark hair becoming weightless as she bounced to her feet. "No school! No school!"

"Nicole, shhh!" the oldest girl grabbed Nicole. "You'll wake mom and dad." With brown hair and glasses, she resembled both of her parents well. "Let them sleep. Mom had a long night last night."

The second teenager snorted into her cup of coffee, her makeup perfect despite the early hour. "That's inappropriate."

"That isn't what I meant." the older girl scolded. "Your mind is too dirty, Maddie."

Maddie pulled her blonde hair into a ponytail, a few strands falling over the scar across her eye. "You're the one that worded it wrong."

"Katie? What are you talking about?" Nicole climbed onto the oldest's lap. "What about momma?"

"Nothing, Nicole..." Katie glared at Maddie. "Maddie's being an idiot."

Nicole took a sharp intake of breath. "Bad word!"

"Nicole, don't you dare-"

"BAD WORD! KATIE SAID A BAD WORD!" Nicole jumped from her oldest sister and sprinted upstairs to her parents' room. "MOM! DAD! KATIE SAID A BAD WORD!"

Piper groaned into her pillow as she heard her daughter coming, knowing very well that she'd have to get up soon but didn't want to leave the comfort of her bed. She had been up on her laptop all night, trying to find a job that she'd actually like to do. When she looked over, her husband was already getting ready for his job.

"Mom, dad!" Nicole pounded on their door. "Open! Open!"

Jason glanced at Piper before opening the bedroom door, picking his daughter up before she could run inside. "Woah, there, what's got you so excited? Why are you up?"

Nicole wrapped her small arms around his neck, her smile wide. "No school! Too much snow!"

Jason looked out the window for the first time that morning, his tired eyes blinking in surprise. "Oh,"

Nicole giggled. "No school! They can stay home and play with me all day. And take me outside. And build a snowman."

"Slow down there, little girl." he blew on her stomach, causing more laughter to escape. "You need to calm down. Mommy's really tired."

Nicole's small lips trembled. "But...mommy needs to make a snowman."

"Nikki..." Piper rolled onto her back, squinting her eyes against the light. "Come here, Nikki. Let him get ready for work."

The little girl sprung out of her father's arms and onto the large bed, her dark curls bouncing around her head. "Katie said a bad word."

Piper picked Nicole up and laid her on her. "Hey, sweetie, you just love to get them in trouble. I give you permission to say what they said, so I know."

Katie's smile beamed from ear to ear. "She said...idiot!"

"Oh, no, a horrible catastrophe!" Jason smiled. "An idiot has been named!"

"Jason, you know that Nicole isn't supposed to be calling people that." Piper kissed Nicole's head. "It's mean."

"Right, mean." Nicole pulled at her mother's hand. "Breakfast, breakfast."

"Breakfast, of course." Piper stood up. "Let's go. What do you want before you go playing outside? Eggs? Pancakes?"

"Pancakes!" Nicole bounced down from the bed. "Nico's favorite!"

Hearts stop beating, the snow seemed to stop falling, not even the noise of Katie and Maddie could break through. Jason turned slowly to look at his wife, who was watching him with a pale face and a sick look to those tired eyes.

"What?" Nicole looked up at her parents. "We don't have pancakes?"

"Ni...Nicole..." Jason kneeled down beside her. "Where did you hear that, about pancakes being Nico's favorite?"

"From Nico, duh." Nicole grabbed his hand and tried to pull him from the room. "Can we make them?"

"Hang on, little lady." Jason picked her up. "When did Nico tell you this? Where is he?"

Nicole looked at her father as if he was stupid. "He told me last night."

"When?" Piper walked up to them and laid her head on Jason's shoulder. "Tell us, Nikki. It's important. We thought Nico was gone. We didn't even think you knew who that was."

"Oh..." Nicole rubbed at her eyes. "I dream all the time. He comes and plays with me. Is that bad?"

"He comes in your dreams..." Piper breathed out. "So he's not in this house?"

Nicole shook her head. "He's in a white place. Too bright."

Piper moved some hair from her daughter's face. "Okay. Let's keep Nico a secret, okay? Something just between the three of us."

"Why?" Nicole questioned. "He likes Katie and Maddie too."

"Because I said so." Piper kissed her forehead. "Can you do this for mommy? Please?"

"If I get pancakes." Nicole bartered.

"I'll make you some pancakes." Piper took her from Jason and carried her out of the room. "Let's go make some. And I'll make sure their school really is closed. They've tried tricking me before."

She left Jason staring at the ceiling, staring above what they all knew. Nico di Angelo...he was reaching out to them, he was in the afterlife.

He was reaching out to them.


	2. Chapter 2

By noon, they were snowed in with no way to even open their door. Roads were closed, a state of emergency had been placed. Buried in their house, they huddled together and played games and tried not to feel trapped in their tomb.

The clouds covered the sun and the wind blew the snow against the windows. The lights flickered a few times, lasted a couple hours, finally went out around dinner time. Jason took to lighting the fireplaces while Piper went upstairs to find more blankets, knowing it would get cold quickly.

With a flashlight in one hand, she walked down the silent hallway, she feet padding against the red carpet. A movement here, a shadow there, nothing too ominous until she felt the crumple of a paper beneath her foot. Moving the flashlight down, she revealed a folded paper with her name in cursive on the front.

"Damn it," Piper kneeled down to pick it up, knowing it couldn't be good. With a glance around her and a sweep of the flashlight, she made sure she was alone in the hallway before unfolding the paper. She was met with dark, neat handwriting and a sense of fear.

_Piper, sorry for shortness. Sorry for everything. Sorry for what will happen. Get your kids checked. Get them checked quickly. Nico_.

"Jason!" Piper's throat ached from the effort of her scream as her heart started to pound in her ears. Her hands shook, the paper fell, she couldn't seem to breathe easily anymore.

In less than a minute, Jason was up the steps and at her side. He picked the flashlight up, looked her over in worry. "What happened? What is it, Piper?"

"Jason...Jason..." her hand flew to his arm and gripped on tight, gripped onto her lifeline to reality. "Nico..."

"Nico?" Jason glanced around them uncomfortably. "Nico what? He passed on, Piper. He passed on before Nicole was born."

"I know, I know..." Deep breaths, aching lungs. "I found this...stepped on it...just laying in the middle of the hallway..." She picked the paper up and laid it in Jason's hand, her eyes watering. "Read it..."

Jason turned the flashlight to the paper to read the small message, the beam starting to move as his hand shook. "Piper... This..."

"He's reaching out to us for something." Piper's voice was quiet in the raging noise of their fear. "Something's wrong."

"Get your kids checked...?" Jason folded the paper. "I'll get them doctor's appointments. Everything will be fine."

"Are you sure that's what he meant?" Piper asked.

"It's gotta be." Jason kissed her head. "Don't worry, it'll be fine. It'll be fine."

She glanced up at him, nodded despite the feeling that everything was going to go wrong. "Okay..."

"Come on, let's go down to the girls." he helped her to her feet and picked up the blankets she had been upstairs to get. "Let's go down to them. Worrying isn't going to help anything."

Piper grabbed onto his hand tightly and let him lead her downstairs, her eyes not remaining on any one spot for long. She looked around them, tried to find Nico, tried to find any evidence that the boy had been there.

But none was found.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The storm lasted throughout the day and it took a week for their power to come back on. Through the haze of candles and firewood, Piper walked the house as if she was one of the ghosts. Everything seemed to be far away as she thought back to the times she talked to Nico, as she thought back to all the moments shared with that misunderstood boy.

She missed him, missed him horribly, and he wasn't coming back.

They took Katie to the doctor first, the day after they got their power back. The drive there was long and through the snow, they watched the fields pass by. The highway was long, the holes in the road seemed to keep getting bigger. When they finally got to the doctor, it felt as if their souls had also frozen up in time.

"Mom, why are we here again?" Katie looked away from the window to stare at her mother. "You never told me. Is something wrong?"

Piper shook her head. "You worry too much, Katie. It's just a well-check. You get them every year, remember? We just went a little early this year. That's it."

Katie looked out the window again, her glasses having fallen to the end of her nose. "Two months is really early, mom."

Piper got out of the car, stared at the sky before helping Katie out. "Come on, come on. We didn't drive out here for nothing."

"Exactly." Katie followed her in, stared at her in suspicion as they passed through those doors.


	3. Chapter 3

Katie was fine. Maddie was fine. Both went to the doctor over a course of two weeks and they were perfectly fine. Piper was starting to relax, starting to think the letter was old, when all the shit hit the fan the night before Nikki's appointment.

It was the little's girl's screams that woke them up that night, that sent them tumbling out of bed and down the hallway faster than they could have thought possible. As Piper entered her daughter's room after throwing open the door, Jason and her two other daughters were right behind her.

"Nightmare." Piper ran to her daughter and pulled the young girl into her arms. "Katie, Maddie, go back to bed." She sung to Nicole, tried shaking her awake, tried anything she could think of. But the poor girl didn't wake. All she could do was scream.

"Here, here." Jason came back into the room, having left with the two teenagers. With a cup in one hand, he walked over to Piper and kneeled next to her, his hand shaking. "Should I pour it on her?"

Piper looked at him for a minute before nodding. "We need to wake her up."

Jason poured the freezing water onto his daughter's head, soaking her hair and her pajamas. Her screams stopped for a second before she started to sob, her eyes opening to find herself in her mother's arms. She gasped for a minute before burying her head in her mother's chest, her small arms wrapping around the woman's torso. "I'm scared!"

"Shhh, shhh." Piper kept her close and began to rub her back. "I've got you, Nikki. I've got you. Momma's got you."

"Nikki, what happened?" Jason set the cup down and sat beside his wife. "What was the nightmare about? I bet I can make you feel all better about it."

"A bad man! A really bad man!" her arms couldn't stop shaking and her lips began to tremble. "He scared me!"

"Shh, shh baby... Tell us what he looked like, okay? Tell us what he did." Piper kept her close. "We're here now. We won't let anyone hurt you."

Nicole closed her eyes. "He...he said he's buried in the woods...he said his body's out there...he said that he lives six feet underground and that it's freezing down there and that one day I'll be down there, too. He said he's going to come from the woods and come in here and take me down there." Her sobs turned to labored breaths. "I don't wanna! I don't wanna, momma!"

Piper's pale face looked to Jason's, her arms started to tremble almost as much as Nicole's. In the dark of night, they sat in a dimly lit room and stared at each other, stared because they didn't want to speak the words that needed to be said. Once they were out in the open, they couldn't be taken back.

"Piper, why would he even...?"

"I don't know, Jason. Just help me calm her." Piper kissed her daughter's head. "Nikki, it was just a bad dream. That's it. It wasn't real."

"It looked real..." Nicole whispered, her tired eyes fighting to stay open. "Can I sleep with you tonight?"

"Course, Nikki." Piper stood up and carried Nicole to their bedroom. "Let's go lay down. Jason, come on."

Jason sighed but followed them, knowing they needed to talk soon. As Piper laid down and began to put Nicole back to bed, Jason mumbled that he was going to get a drink before going downstairs. He turned lights on as he went, illuminating his path in the dark house. Shadows moved around him and his eyes played tricks on him as he entered the kitchen. A drink of water, a cold sensation down his spine.

He wasn't alone.

"Who's there?" Jason turned around, froze when he saw the basement door wide open. "Maddie? Katie? This isn't funny."

A creek on the steps, the basement light turning on.

"Maddie!" Jason grabbed a knife from the block on the cupboard before going to the basement door. He looked down the steps, frowned when he didn't see anyone. "If you don't come out right now you're grounded. From your phone and your boyfriend and everything."

The wind blew up, carried a chuckle and a silent scream. As Jason stepped onto the staircase, the door slammed behind him with another gust of wind. The lights stayed on but flickered, causing Jason's heart to skip a beat.

"I'm serious." he walked downstairs and looked around, hoping to see one of his children hiding. Instead, he saw something that made his heart stop and his blood run cold. The rug in the middle of the room was pulled up, revealing the floor underneath. Drawn on the floor in red, a large pentagram stood out like a sore thumb.

"Oh god, oh god..." Jason ran upstairs as if a bear was chasing him. Once at the top, he threw the door open and ran for the safety of his room. Only when he was in his room with the door closed and barricaded did he allow himself to breathe, deep breaths and hard heartbeats.

"Pipes, it's worse than we thought."


	4. Chapter 4

A call to school explaining the kids were home sick, the brewing of coffee, the pounding as the basement door was nailed shut. Jason and Piper kept Nicole close to them as they waited for their other two daughters to wake up, as they waited to talk to them about what had happened the night before. Someone had drawn that pentagram.

Piper was setting plates of breakfast on the island when they heard the girls start to move about upstairs. Jason had just finished nailing in the last board as was putting his tools away while Piper helped Nicole into her chair. The sun broke in through the windows and everything seemed peaceful enough, but they knew all of that would change when the moon came up.

Maddie was downstairs first, her hair in a bun and her makeup perfect. She sat beside Nicole at the table and picked at her food, not noticing the basement door or the sullen faces around her. With one eye on her phone and the other on her food, she rushed through breakfast in hopes she'd be out of the house soon enough.

"Maddie, no phone." Piper snatched the phone from her daughter's hand and pocketed it. "Not right now."

"Mom!" Maddie dropped her fork and held her hand out. "Give it back!"

"No. We need to talk about something important." Piper crossed her arms. "Where's Katie?"

"Getting her stuff ready to leave." Maddie kept her eyes on Piper's pocket. "What's so important? I was in the middle of a conversation."

Piper ignored her and stalked to the stairs, calling loud enough for Katie to hear her. "Katie! Come down so we can talk! Don't worry about bringing your school things!"

Katie's annoyed face appeared at the top of the staircase, her pajamas still on and her glasses crooked. "Mom, I have so much to try and fit into my bag."

"You're not going today." Piper gestured for her to come down. "We all need to talk about something...something really important. Come on. Your dad should be back inside soon. He went to put something away in the shed."

Katie walked downstairs with a look of suspicion. "Mom, what's going on? Is everything okay? Who died?"

"Nobody died." Piper led Katie to the kitchen. "Sit at the island and eat your breakfast."

Katie sat next to Maddie before whispering to her younger sister. "What's got mom so upset?"

Maddie shrugged. "She took my phone."

"All you care about is that stupid-"

"Stop bickering." Jason entered the room with his arms crossed. Anyone that knew him could tell that he was angry, that he was holding back rage inside those blue eyes. "Who did it?"

"Did what?" Maddie asked.

"One of you know what." Jason started to pace. "There's a reason we're eating in here today. Look around, think deeply. Own up to it."

"Own up to what?" Katie asked. "Dad, just tell us what you're talking about."

"What I'm talking about?" Jason gestured to the basement door. "Guess what I found down there last night?! Guess what's painted on the fucking floor! Did you three think it was funny? Did you think it was a joke?"

"Jason, language." Piper moved a hand to his arm before looking to her three girls. "One of you had to have done it. Jason and I didn't."

Nicole, close to crying at the yelling, looked up at Maddie with her lips trembling. "I-I'm scared."

"Don't be scared, baby." Piper picked her youngest up. "It's going to be okay. Daddy's just upset. Someone was really reckless downstairs."

"Hang on, time out." Katie held her hands up. "What's downstairs? Did someone break down the boards or something?"

"The boards? Nico's boards? No, that has nothing to do with this." Jason didn't even stop to think about Katie still remembering the certain ghost. "It's about what's painted on the floor, as I said."

"What's painted on the floor?" Katie looked to Maddie. "What did you do?"

Maddie laughed without humor. "Now you're blaming me? Of course, you are. I didn't do anything. You did."

"I didn't do anything!" Katie looked to her mother. "Mom, please believe me. I didn't do anything. I've been working on school."

"I've been with my boyfriend," Maddie argued. "I'm barely even in this house!"

"Stop arguing!" Jason stepped forward. "One of you drew that pentagram and we're going to sit here until you tell me who!"

"Why would anyone draw a pentagram?" Katie scowled. "You're an idiot, Maddie."

"I don't even know what a pentagram is!" Maddie glared at her sister. "Stop throwing me under the bus."

"I know it wasn't me! So it has to be you!"

" _I_ know it wasn't _me_!" Maddie looked to Piper. "Mom, explain to Katie that I-"

Nicole's loud crying cut her off. As they all turned to look at the girl in her mother's arms, her face was red and she had begun to sob loudly. Her small fists clenched her mother's shirt and her hair stuck to the tears on her face, her sobs starting to echo through the house. "I'm scared! I'm scared! Mommy!"

"Nicole, shh." Piper rocked her close. "Calm down, sweetie. What are you scared about? Hm? Just tell me. What are you scared about?"

"Daddy's mad at me!" Nicole's words were muffled by her sobs. "He's mad at me for drawing on the floor! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"You...you drew on the floor?" Piper's face paled. "In the basement?"

Nicole nodded, her small eyes red and swollen from her ongoing tears. As she cried her eyes out, her parents were too shocked to do anything but watch, watch and try to come up with a reason of how they ever got into this situation.


	5. Chapter 5

"Well, this is rich." Maddie watched her younger sister cry her eyes out. "Who knew Nikki was a devil worshipper?"

"Maddie, Katie. Upstairs." Piper didn't bother looking over at them. "I'll talk to you two later."

The two teenagers looked at each other before following each other out of the room. Only seconds later did Maddie peek her head back into the room, her hair sticking to her makeup. "My phone...?"

"Out, Maddie." Piper's voice was tense and strained. "Just go out for now."

Maddie left the room quickly and was soon up the staircase. Piper looked to Jason when the girls were gone, her eyes empty of hope. "What do we even do?"

"Get her to stop crying so she can talk." Jason stalked over to the cupboard and began to make coffee. "We need to talk to her."

Piper looked down at Nicole before gently wiping the tears off of the little girl's face. "Nikki, shh. It's okay. We need to talk to you, so you have to calm down. Shh..."

Nicole took gulps of air before looking into her mother's eyes, knowing very well that Piper was angrier than she had even been in front of her. "I'm sorry."

"Where did you learn about that symbol?" Jason asked, bringing over a cup of coffee for Piper. "How did you know to even draw it?"

Nicole hid her head in her mother's chest. "Don't be mad, daddy. Please."

"Nicole, explain or I'm going to get even more mad." Jason sat by them. "I need to know so I know how to fix it."

"It was in my dreams." Nicole's small hands were balled into fists. "The bad man said to draw it so...so...so he could...he could live here." Her stumbling got worse when she was nervous, her vision blurred with tears. "He just wanted...wanted to live with us..."

"What did this man look like?" Jason kissed her forehead. "Calm down, sweetie. I'm not mad anymore. Can you tell me what he looked like?"

She nodded, her large eyes wide. "Big eyes! Really big eyes! Um...black eyes. Black hair. Black clothes. Lot's of black. He looks like...like...his skin was like...Maddie's boyfriend...Harry..."

"He looked Italian?" Jason questioned.

Nicole pointed to him. "That's it!"

Jason glanced towards Piper. "It couldn't be..."

"He wouldn't do that." Piper insisted. "He wouldn't do that. Nicole, how old was he? Was he Katie's age or daddy's age?"

"Daddy," Nicole answered. "He was oollllddd. But he's scary..."

Piper sighed in relief. "See Jason? Not who you were thinking."

"Our daughter just called me old." Jason realized. "I'm not that old."

"Sorry, Jace, but you are." Piper kissed his cheek. "Now, how are we going to handle this?"

"I'll get a priest." Jason decided. "That's all I can think of for right now."

"Mommy? Can I sleep with you tonight? The bad man scares me." Nicole watched her parents. "He comes every night."

"Of course." Piper stood up, ignoring the fact that her legs were shaking. "You have a doctor's appointment today, remember?"

"I don't think we need that anymore..." Jason whispered to her, making sure Nicole couldn't hear. "This was probably what Nico was warning us about, not their health."

Piper sighed. "You're right. Okay, Nicole, let's go play. Want to play marbles?"

Nicole nodded. "With ice cream? Please? Pretty please?"

Piper moved towards the freezer. "Only this once, Nikki. Only this once." She stepped over the bloodstain on the ground, made sure not to go near it. Below her feet, she could hear the unmistakable sounds of something moving against wood. "Don't ever go into the basement again, okay? It's dangerous."

"Okay." Nicole agreed. "But why? Didn't Nico go down there?"

Jason dropped his cup, the glass shattered across the floor. The shards swarm together, filled the blood spot where Nico said he killed his father.


	6. Chapter 6

The wind blew Piper's hair as she sat on the front lawn, Nicole in her lap. She couldn't deal with the house, couldn't deal with the paranormal. It was all too much, too exhausting. She needed a break.

"Mom, why'd you freak out?" Nicole asked. "Is Nico bad?"

"How do you know who Nico is?" Piper asked quietly. "How do you know him?"

"He scared of the bad man, too." Nicole got out of her mother's arms and began to gather the snow. "He really scared. He hate him."

"Do you know why?" Piper watched her closely. "Did he ever say?"

"He bad man's son." Nicole threw a pile of snow at her mother, smirking when it hit its target.

Piper let it fall onto her lap, her brown hair finally being spared from the wind. "The bad man...the one that made you draw that...is Nico's father?"

Nicole nodded. "Can Katie come and play in the snow with me? I want to hit her with snow."

Piper stood up and brushed the snow off of her. "I'll send her out. I need to talk to your dad, okay? Just play good."

She went inside and sent Katie out to watch Nicole before going to Jason, telling him everything that Nicole had told her. "This isn't good. This really isn't good."

"The priest is on his way," Jason assured her. "Don't worry."

"I can't trust my girls inside my own house." Piper paced the living room, having refused to enter the kitchen. "Jason, maybe we should move."

"We can't just run away and leave it for the next person," Jason argued. "Let's just try, okay? Let's try to figure it out. If it gets dangerous then we leave."

"It's already dangerous!" Piper insisted. " _It's already dangerous!"_

"Nobody's been hurt." Jason leaned against the wall. "Just relax. Okay? Just relax for me."

Piper nodded numbly. "Fine. But if someone gets hurt then we're gone."

"We'll go to my mother's." Jason agreed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another scream in the middle of the night, another scene of jumping awake in the pitch darkness. Jason turned the light on and Piper looked to Nicole, but the small girl was still sleeping in the middle of her parents' bed. The screams turned to sobs, sobs Piper hadn't heard in years. "That's Maddie."

Jason scooped Nicole up before running from the room, Piper following close behind. They threw Maddie's door open to find the girl curled up in the corner of her bedroom, her thin nightgown sticking to the sweat on her tan skin.

"Maddie, what happened?" Piper moved to kneel next to her. "What happened, sweetie? Just tell me."

Maddie grabbed her mother and pulled her close, her hands shaking. "There was a man...there was a man in here. Please don't leave me. And don't think I'm insane. I'm not insane, mom. I promise. I'm not insane."

"I know you're not insane." Piper hugged her middle child, hugged the girl that barely accepted her hugs. "We believe you."

Maddie leaned into her, letting herself relax at her mother's presence. "He scared me, mom."

"I know. I would've been scared, too." Piper looked to Jason. "We need to do something about this, Jason."

"The priest blessed the house." Jason offered. "That's something."

"We need to do something else." Piper corrected. "It didn't help. That man is still showing up and scaring our children."

"He hasn't hurt any of them or even tried to." Jason reasoned.

"Well, actually..." Maddie looked to her mother. "He...he...he tried to lift my nightgown, mom. That's when I screamed."

Piper turned to glare at Jason. "Now what do you have to say?"

Jason had turned slightly pale. "She can sleep in our room, too. I'll call my mom and see if she can help. I'll call her first thing in the morning."

"Fine." Piper looked to Maddie. "Want to come lay with us?"

Maddie nodded her head miserably. "I hate this house, mom."

"I know. We're fixing it." Piper helped her to her feet. "Don't worry, we're fixing it."


	7. Chapter 7

Jason watched Piper from the window, his wife having taken the girls outside to eat lunch. They huddled together on the porch, eating the grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. Nicole would wave to him every now and again but never seemed to want to go inside, nor did Maddie. They were scared. He needed to fix it.

He was going to call his mother but Leo's face filled the screen of his phone, the incoming call the only sound in the silent room. Jason answered with a bit of hesitation, never knowing where a conversation with Leo would go.

"Hey, Jason!" Leo greeted. "I have a proposition for you."

Jason leaned against the counter. "I'm not going into business with you, Leo, for the last time."

"No, not that," Leo replied. "I was just thinking, you have a big house and a big yard and you put a fence up so they can't get into the woods-"

"Spit it out, Leo. I'm not in the mood today."

"Would you want a dog?" Leo wondered. "Not a big dog, I promise. Just medium sized."

"A dog..." Jason repeated. "You called me because of a dog..."

"I found it on the street and I have no room for it," Leo explained. "You've got room and I'm sure the girls will love her. She's a protector."

"A protector?" Jason perked up. "Fine, fine. I'll come to get her. This better not be a scam, Leo."

"Hey, I'm not a scam artist." Leo defended. "If I was, I'd be rich." He hung up, the phone going dead in Jason's ear.

"Great..." Jason stuck his head out the back door. "Pipes, I'm going to run to Leo's to...to get something important. I'll be back."

Piper nodded, expecting him to be going to his mother's but not wanting to say it in front of the kids. "Hurry home."

"I will." Jason kissed her cheek before kissing all the kids on their head. "I'll be back soon. Stay close to each other, okay?"

He left them with a sense of fear, fear that he should never have. You shouldn't be scared to leave people in your home, you shouldn't be scared of your home. Period.

He was going to fix it, no matter what. Even if he had to drag Nico back by his weary soul.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jason pulled up to the house, his hands clenching the steering wheel as annoyance got the best of him. The dog never sat down, pacing the backseat and sliding everywhere. Leo had said it was medium sized, but Leo was known to lie about important things. The dog was bigger than any dog Jason had seen, its dark fur full of dirt.

"Let's go, you filthy animal." Jason got out of the car and grabbed the dog's leash. "Katie can give you a bath."

He walked the dog up to the house, not even getting to the door before his girls ran out. Nicole was first, followed by Katie. Maddie hung back, eyeing the dog suspiciously. "That thing's dirty."

"Leo found it on the streets." Jason looked to Piper as she came out. "Told me it was medium sized, a good protector."

"Medium sized, my ass," Piper muttered. "Where is that thing going to sleep?"

"So we're keeping it?" Katie spoke up.

"Doggy!" Nicole agreed. "Doggy! Doggy! I name it, I name it!"

Jason gestured to Nicole. "Look how happy they are, Piper." Nicole was busy trying to climb the dog, who laid in the grass and accepted its new owner's playful attitude.

Piper pinched the bridge of her nose. "Fine. Katie, will you help Nicole wash the dog?"

"Yeah, course." Katie picked her younger sister up. "What are you going to name it?"

"Um..." Nicole watched Katie get the dog's leash. "Is it a girl or is it a boy?"

"A girl," Jason answered. "I think."

"A girl, like me." Nicole wrapped her arms around Katie's neck. "Her name is...Mrs. O'Leary! If it's a boy secretly, it's Mr. O'Leary."

"Mrs. O'Leary it is." Katie walked the dog into the house. "Now, it's Mrs. O'Leary's bathtime."

"Thank god for that." Maddie followed her sisters. "That thing looks like it's been rolling around in a dumpster."

" _You_ look like you've been rolling around in a dumpster." Katie shot back. "Don't make fun of Mrs. O'Leary."

"Yeah, don't make fun!" Nicole stuck her tongue out at Maddie, who simply rolled her eyes. Leave it to her sisters to adopt a dog they knew nothing about.


	8. Chapter 8

"Mom's here!" Jason called from his spot at the window, Mrs. O'Leary laying at his feet. "She's here, Pipes!"

"Good, good." Piper moved to the door quickly, opening it to greet her mother-in-law. The kids were at Leo's, staying safe incase something were to happen. They needed to get this spirit out of the house, needed to cleanse the house before their kids got hurt.

It had been weeks since they got Mrs. O'Leary, but the dog didn't help as much as Jason thought. Usually, she just lay in front of the fireplace, asleep as Nicole climbed on her. The only time she did help was the night Nicole first got hurt.

Nicole had fallen asleep on Mrs. O'Leary's back, in front of the blazing fireplace. Jason slept on the couch with Piper, and the other two girls slept on blankets on the floor. The TV showed static through the room, created a blue glow of light. Silence, the breathing of sleep, peace.

Mrs. O'Leary barking woke them up, made Jason aware of the situation before it became deadly. Nicole was laying on her stomach, small whimpers coming from her mouth. On her back, three long gashes tore her small nightgown.

They had taken her to the hospital, got her stitched up. Jason called his mom that night. The next morning, she was at his front door with Thalia at her side.

"Come in," Piper moved aside so the two woman could enter the house. "I'm sure Jason told you everything?"

Beryl nodded, her wrinkled face set in determination. "You have a problem, but nothing I can't fix."

Piper sighed in relief. She had a hand over her heart, trying to steady the constant thumping. "Thank you. Thank you for coming to help."

Beryl stepped further into the home, her eyes closed. A hand reached towards the floor, clenched into a fist. When she opened her eyes, a look of pain crossed her face. "That's no regular spirit, I'm afraid."

They could hear something heavy hit the floor in the kitchen, feel the vibrations.

"Oh, you aren't happy I'm here." Beryl smiled. "I see our feelings are mutual."

"Mom, be careful." Jason flinched as something else hit the kitchen floor. "I had that basement boarded up but it sounds like-"

"He's taking the boards off? You're right." she gestured to the front door. "I'd leave if I was you. You and your wife. I'll handle this."

"By yourself? No way." Jason went to her side. "I'm not leaving you to do this alone."

"Jason, do as I said." her eyes flashed dangerously. "I can't work with you in here. Get out, Jason."

"Come on, let's just listen to her." Piper pulled on her husband's arm. "Let's go wait outside, Jace. It's going to be okay."

"It's going to be okay..." Jason repeated. He hugged his mother before following his wife out, following her and Thalia, leaving his mother for the last time. He would never have imagined that she'd stop breathing within the hour.

But some things happened without rhyme or reason.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A siren wailing in the distance, the sounds of cars and horns. The distant sound of crying, the distant sound of a life being ruined.

It wasn't the sirens that let Katie know, however, but Leo's phone ringing from the kitchen.

"Hello?" Leo began with an upbeat tone but it quickly changed direction. "Jason, what is it? What happened?"

"Leo?" Calypso got up from playing with Nicole to move to her husband. "What's wrong?"

He held a grease-stained finger up, his eyes narrowed as he listened to the other voice on the phone. A minute, two minutes, three minutes went by in silence. Finally, he spoke again in no more than a whisper. "Yeah, don't worry about it. We've got them for the night."

"Uncle Leo, what happened?" Katie was suddenly on her feet. "Why are we staying the night here? What happened? Are mom and dad okay?"

"Katie, everything's fine." Leo waved her away. "Go keep your sisters busy." He turned his attention back to the phone, talking to the one on the other line. "Jason...yeah, yeah, okay. You go do that. I've got them."

Leo hung up with a shaking hand and a fast beating heart. Calypso was at his side in an instant, her braid tickling his bare arm. "What happened?"

He made sure the girls weren't listening and that Katie was out of the room before speaking, his voice low and his spirits crushed. "Jason's mom is dead."

"Dead?" her eyes widened. "What do you mean, dead?"

"Dead as in they'll be putting her in the ground soon." Leo pulled some paperclips from his pocket and began to twist them together, the cold metal poking at his calloused skin. "They heard her scream, ran in to help. Found her dead. We've got the kids for tonight."

Calypso glanced towards the living room where the three girls were. "Should we tell them?"

"Yeah, Jason asked me to." Leo looked to her with puppy dog eyes. "Please? You do it?"

Calypso huffed in annoyance. "You big baby."

He grinned. "Thanks, Callie."


	9. Chapter 9

"A time to mourn, a time to laugh. A time to gather stones and a time to cast them..." the priest read the same verse that he did at every funeral, but he still needed to read the words from the worn Bible in his hands. Jason stood with Piper and their kids, stood in a black suit as he watched them pray over his mother's casket.

A soft wind blew over the cemetery, creating a rustle of flower petals and the occasional complaint from one of the mourners. Tears frozen on their faces, umbrellas ready for the next snowfall. Burying in the winter was never fun.

Jason shifted his weight to his right foot, his hands deep in his pockets. Piper was holding Nicole, keeping her close for the sharing of body warmth. His other two girls stood in front of him, their black dresses curling around their knees. He was stuck staring at his mother's casket for awhile, stuck staring at that wooden box.

It was a tap on his elbow that got him to turn around, a tap on his elbow that changed his life yet again.

"Jason, we need to talk." Nico's low voice came from behind him, sent shivers down his spine. "We really need to talk."

Jason turned to face Nico so fast he had whiplash. "Wha-?"

"Don't make a scene." Nico hissed. He wore a black suit, the same suit he had died in, and looked mostly alive. Pale skin, dark hair, a scarf to cover his wounded neck. "Stay quiet."

Staying at the back of the crowd, Jason moved so he was standing by Nico. They kept their voices low, kept their conversation to just each other. "What are you doing here?  _How_  are you here?"

Nico shrugged. "Dunno. Let's talk about something else, like this funeral, for example."

Jason's face darkened. "I don't want to talk about it."

"We need to." Nico looked up at the sky, smiled. "It's so nice to be outside."

"What's there to say? She's dead, Nico. There's no saving her." Jason buried his hands in his pockets. "No saving her..."

"But you can still save the rest of your family." Nico moved a hand to Jason's shoulder. "I'm...I'm sorry for what happened."

"What  _did_ happen?" Jason asked, his voice thick with sadness. "What happened? We heard her scream and came in to... The hospital said a heart attack, but I know that wasn't it. I  _know_ it wasn't."

"Because it wasn't," Nico replied darkly. "Nothing about her death was that innocent. It was my father. He scared her to death, literally. It was his fault that her heart stopped beating."

"Your father..." Jason scowled. "So it is him that's haunting my house. My girls have been staying with Leo for a week, now. I don't trust them in there."

"And you shouldn't." Nico agreed. "He's dangerous, he's an ass. There's a reason I killed him."

"How'd he come back?" Jason wondered. "Where has he been for all these years? What made him decide to return?"

"My absence," Nico answered. "He was scared of me." He smirked, a feeling of victory short lived. "When I was gone, he started the constant prodding. He eventually got that girl of yours to play with an Ouija board with her friends."

"Which girl?" Jason looked to his family.

"Maddie," Nico muttered. "Corrupted her dreams and the dreams of her friends. They finally decided to do it in the basement. The next day, your youngest girl went down there and drew that pentagram."

Jason ran a hand through his hair. "Of course they did."

"There's only one way to get rid of him, and I'm going to come help." Nico's face was grim. "Tonight, be ready. We'll send that bastard back to Hell."

"We better." Jason also looked to the sky. "He deserves it for messing with my family, for messing with my kids and my mom. He deserves it."


	10. Chapter 10

Determined faces, a tight grasp on a rosary, the smell of holy water. A tight ponytail, brown eyes. Blond hair, blue eyes grim. A dead boy, a boy with marks on his neck.

"Are you ready?" Jason asked. The stared up at the house, stared with a sense of forbidding. "Nico, you sure you can stay?"

Nico shrugged again. "I don't even know how I'm here. I've been trying to warn you forever. And then one day I wake up and boom, I'm standing in that cemetery."

"Great." Jason gripped Piper's hand. "Are you ready?"

"As ready as ever." Piper kissed the rosary she held. "What's the plan? Full exorcism?"

"Full exorcism." Jason agreed. "We need to get that pentagram cleaned up and then draw a cross over it. You're in charge of that. I'll be reading that specific verse of the Bible. Nico will be shielding you."

"And...that'll work?" Piper asked. "It'll really work?"

"It's your only chance," Nico spoke up. "If it doesn't work then you should move. If it doesn't work, then this spirit is far more dangerous than we expected."

Piper gave Nico a one-armed hug. "Thanks for helping, Neeks."

Nico leaned his head on her shoulder momentarily. "Of course I'll help. Part of this is my fault. I killed him in the house. I should have known his spirit was still here."

"Don't blame yourself." Piper held the cleaning supplies close. "Ready?"

"Ready." Both boys chimed in.

Piper stepped onto the porch and unlocked the front door, feeling as if every fiber in her being was fighting to run away. She wanted to follow that order, more than anything, but she knew she needed to do this. For her husband, for her kids. Even for Nico.

The house was dark when they entered, all the lights off. They turned them on as they went, turned them on as they made this illuminated path to the basement. At the basement door, they finally felt the evil that seemed to lurk there.

Nico swallowed thickly, an action that wouldn't seem possible in the state he was in. It jolted the wounds on his neck, looking quite painful but seeming to cause him no discomfort. "Ready or not, here we come."

The basement felt like a battlefield. A sense of terror, a sense of death. Piper kept her grip on Nico strong, kept him close as they descended the steps. One foot, the other foot. One step at a time.

"Ready, Piper?" Jason opened up the page he had bookmarked in the Bible. "Nico, you got her?"

"I've got her." Nico led her to where the pentagram stared up at them. "Get reading, Jason."

Jason fingered the sticky note that was planted inside the Bible, his heart pounding in his chest as he read the words that were only supposed to be read by a Catholic priest. "In the Name of Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, strengthened by the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God, of Blessed Michael the Archangel, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul and all the Saints. and powerful in the holy authority of our ministry, we confidently undertake to repulse the attacks and deceits of the devil."

The atmosphere changed, changed from fear to total chaos. Piper knelt next to the pentagram, felt the burning of the floor through her jeans. "Nico..."

"Keep going." Nico knelt next to her. "He can't hurt you. You have to believe that. He can't hurt you."

"God arises; His enemies are scattered and those who hate Him flee before Him. As smoke is driven away, so are they driven; as wax melts before the fire, so the wicked perish at the presence of God." Jason continued the prayer, feeling wrong for saying it. But the church was going to find out, and if it was helping them, then why was it wrong?

Piper felt a rock slam into the side of her head, causing her to see stars. She could feel Nico beside her, feel him holding her up. "Keep going. Keep going, Piper."

Piper breathed through the pain as she busied herself with wiping the pentagram up. Jason kept saying the prayer, things were thrown. A rock hit Jason and broke his glasses, a piece of a wooden board slammed Nico in the back with so much force that if he had been alive, he would probably have died. Nico took it upon himself to shield Piper with his body, to keep anything else from hitting her.

"Jason, it's almost done!" Nico called out. "Start coming over for the end of the prayer!"

"Deign, O Lord, to grant us Thy powerful protection and to keep us safe and sound. We beseech Thee through Jesus Christ Our Lord." Jason knelt next to Piper and pulled the bottle of holy water from his pocket. "From the snares of the devil, Deliver us, O Lord. That Thy Church may serve Thee in peace and liberty: We beseech Thee to hear us."

Piper started to paint the cross on the floor where the pentagram had once been, wincing at the pain that flared up in her side. She muttered the words with Jason, tried to ignore the pain as if it was nothing more than an itch.

As she did this, Jason said the last words of the prayer. "That Thou may crush down all enemies of Thy Church: We beseech Thee to hear us." He sprinkled holy water on the newly drawn cross, emptied the bottle to find that his energy had also emptied. He slumped backward, falling into Nico's form. Piper did the same, leaving Nico to move out of the way so that the two adults could lay next to each other on the cold basement floor.

But it wasn't giving up. No, it was relief. Relief that they had accomplished it. The air was lighter, the feeling of fear was gone. Nico wore a proud smile as he looked down at them, a smile that told them all that they needed to know. His father wasn't in the house any longer.

"Nico...are you going back?" Piper finally asked. "Do you have to go back?"

Nico looked up at the ceiling, his hands deep in his pockets. "Yeah, I think so."

Piper sat up, her hair having become a mess. "You'll be okay? You're happy up there?"

Nico nodded. "My mom, Bianca...everything's good. Thank you, for caring about me. It's nice."

"Of course I care about you, Nico." Piper got up and hugged him. "You're a good kid. I miss you being here."

Nico hugged back, his form starting to flicker. "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Of course. What is it?"

Nico gestured to the room he had boarded up so long before. "Empty that out? It's just a ton of shit with bad history. This house doesn't need that negative air."

"I'll do it," Jason promised. He also stood up, the Bible shaking along with his hands. "I'll get it done."

"Thank you." Nico stepped away from Piper, suddenly too transparent to be touched. "I'm...I'm going, now, I think. Goodbye."

"Bye." Piper held her tears back as she latched onto her husband's arm. "I'll see you again someday, Nico."

Nico gave her a two finger solute before disappearing, leaving them alone in the quivering basement. What had just gone down, the power that just happened, Piper still couldn't believe it. She stood next to her husband for hours, stared at the cross on the floor. Finally, finally, she felt protected. Her story finally felt complete.


End file.
